


Bad Days Call For Coffee and Hot Chocolate

by chasethewind



Series: Chase's 12 Days of Christmas 2017 [2]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Boss/Employee Relationship, F/M, Friendship, Gen, Implied/Referenced Sexual Harassment, Prompt Fic, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-15
Updated: 2017-12-15
Packaged: 2019-02-15 03:29:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13022316
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chasethewind/pseuds/chasethewind
Summary: bowsmoakandarrow: Here’s a prompt: Someone spills hot chocolate all over the other person accidentally coming around a corner and they try to wipe it off but then realize the awkward touching.





	Bad Days Call For Coffee and Hot Chocolate

“So why did you invite me for coffee?” Dinah asked as she took a seat across from Felicity at the cafe near Queen Consolidated.

“Because I’m having a really bad day and I just wanted someone to talk to,” Felicity answered as the barista brought out their drinks.

“One coffee black,” he said, holding up the cup and looking between the two women sitting down in front of him. Dinah raised her hand. “And a hot chocolate, extra whip.” He set the second cup down in front of Felicity as she sheepishly raised her hand then left.

“Wow, a hot chocolate with extra whipped cream,” Dinah remarked. “Must have been a really bad day.”

“You have no idea,” Felicity replied, immediately taking a long sip of the warm liquid. It tasted fantastic, just as she remembered. It had been awhile since she’d gotten hot chocolate from anywhere, let alone Jitters, but after the day she’d had, it was warranted.

“Spill,” Dinah said, also taking a sip of her coffee. The police detective waited patiently as her friend took a deep breath.

“You know I work in IT.” Dinah nodded. “Well, here’s the thing. I was working on one of the older execs computers this afternoon and I had to crawl under his desk in order to get to some of the wiring that I knew had to have been unplugged, otherwise his internet wouldn’t have gone down like it had. And what does the bastard do?” Felicity asked, raising her glass to try and take a sip but instead flinging it around as her animated hands gestured wildly.

“No!” Dinah immediately remarked, knowing full well where this was going.

“He pinched my ass, Dinah!” Felicity nearly shouted, catching the attention of several patrons, including one very handsome fellow sitting behind them. His head perked up, blue eyes scanning their table as he zeroed in on their conversation.

Dinah blushed. “Keep it down,” she hissed, not wanting anyone else to overhear them. It was bad enough that the cute stranger was staring at Felicity, but her remarks would scare anyone away at that point if she kept her tone as loud as it had just been.

“Sorry,” Felicity whispered loudly, covering her mouth with her hand as her cheeks turned bright red. “But it was humiliating!”

“I understand, sweetheart,” Dinah sympathized. “Is there anything you want me to do about it?”

“No… Maybe… I don’t know!” The exasperation was evident in Felicity’s voice. “It’s just that, I don’t want to lose my job if I report him. He’s the senior vice president of the applied sciences division, you know, the department I want to transfer to. If I did report him to H.R., I’m pretty sure I’d be demoted instead of promoted, if not fired.” Her shoulders slumped as she sat back and took another big swig from her cup. “It’s a no-win situation.”

“Hey, no it isn’t! Look what’s happening right now in the world,” Dinah replied. “Harvey Weinstein was just kicked out of his own company. Taylor Swift sued the DJ who groped her and won. Hundreds of male celebrities are being outed and fired for the disgusting things they’ve done to other people. You’re not alone in this.” She was trying to be a supportive friend, but Felicity still looked like she had given up. “If you want, I can come with you, flash my badge, and maybe something will come of it.”

“Or maybe I’ll just deal with it myself and let it blow over,” Felicity replied. “I don’t want to lose my job, Dinah. I love working for Queen Consolidated. The benefits are incredible. I don’t want to lose my medical insurance or my 401K. Maybe it’ll be better if I just let it slide.”

Behind her, the beautiful stranger had gotten up out of his seat. Dinah could see he was a suit, probably some big-wig executive from one of the many office buildings in the area. He still seemed pretty interested in their conversation and was making their way toward them when Felicity raised her glass again.

“To hell with it,” she said. “I’m just letting it go. There’s no point in losing my job over this.” She swung her mug out just as the stranger walked up to their table. It hit him square in the leg, splashing warm hot chocolate all over the front of his pants.

Felicity squeaked out a shocked cry as she immediately stood up to face him. “I am so sorry!” she was quick to apologize. “I had no idea you were there!” She grabbed several napkins off their table and began cleaning up the spilled hot chocolate from his pants. When she reached his crotch, she realized what she was doing and dropped the napkins unceremoniously onto the ground at his feet.

“Oh, god!” she cried. “I am so very sorry! I didn’t mean to… I mean, I didn’t… I…” She looked up at the stranger and seemed to recognize him just as quickly. Her face turned an even brighter shade of red, something Dinah had never seen before. “Oh, frack,” Felicity muttered under her breath.

“It’s alright,” the man replied, giving her a warm smile before grabbing a few more napkins and wiping himself off where she’d left off.

“Mr. Queen! I… I didn’t know it was you,” Felicity meekly answered as she averted her eyes from the man standing beside her.

Dinah’s gaze bounced between the two of them before it clicked. Mr. Queen… Queen Consolidated… The man was the head of the company they had just been talking about for the past several minutes. No wonder he’d been so interested in their conversation. Something in Mr. Queen’s eyes made Dinah think he had a vested interest in Felicity’s plight instead of the man she’d been complaining about. He seemed genuinely concerned as he pulled out the extra chair that stood between them and took a seat.

“Please, call me Oliver,” he said before turning to Dinah and extending his hand. “Oliver Queen, nice to meet you, Ms…?”

“Drake. Detective Dinah Drake,” she answered, taking his hand. He had a firm handshake.

“Detective?”

“We’re friends.”

Oliver nodded before his attention turned to Felicity. “Miss Smoak, I overheard your conversation and I must say, it had me concerned for your well being,” he said. “Queen Consolidated is supposed to be a cutting edge tech company, and I want to make sure everything else about it is cutting edge as well, especially the way my employees are treated by senior staff.”

Felicity’s head popped up as she stared at him with wide, light blue eyes. Her mouth had fallen open before bobbing closed. “I… What?” she asked.

“I’d like to discuss the matter with you further. Would you accompany me to my office so we can talk about who did this to you and what I can do to make you feel safer and more comfortable in the building?”

Dinah sat there, impressed by the man’s sincerity. There were only a handful of men she knew that would take a step like that, notably her boss, Captain Quentin Lance. But for the owner of a multi-billion dollar company, that was something else entirely.

“Oh-okay,” Felicity stuttered. She glanced in Dinah’s direction with apologetic eyes. “Do you mind?” she asked.

“No, of course not!” Dinah replied. “If this is going to solve your problem, then by all means, go with your boss. Don’t worry about me. We can grab dinner tonight and talk about what happened.”

“Thank you,” Felicity said as she stood up and grabbed her purse off the back of her seat. Oliver had already grabbed her jacket and was holding it out for her. She slipped into the sleeves and buttoned up before leaning over and giving Dinah a hug. “You’re the best!” she whispered into her ear before stand straight.

“See you tonight!” Dinah said. Her attention turned to Oliver as she added, “And thank you, Mr. Queen, for taking this matter seriously.”

“I take my employees’ well being very seriously,” he answered. All she could sense in his voice was honesty, making her all the more grateful Felicity’s issue would be taken care of.

“I won’t keep you guys any longer, then,” she replied.

As they walked away from the table, Dinah could hear Felicity apologize once more. “Again, I’m really sorry about your suit, and even sorrier that I tried to clean it up. I feel like I might have just gotten myself into trouble,” she said. “Which would be ironic considering what you just heard us talking about.”

“Miss Smoak,” Oliver said, stopping them at the door. “It’s fine. You were trying to be helpful, unlike the man who groped you.”

“Thank you for understanding,” Felicity replied as the door chimed open and they exited the cafe.

Dinah sat back and sipped her coffee. A smile touched the corners of her lips as she thought about the job she now wouldn’t have to deal with. Felicity was in good hands, of that she was sure of.


End file.
